Instead of scaling back its program in response to the cost of living crisis, Wollongong’s Merrigong Theatre Company (named after the Dharawal word for the Illawarra region’s distinctive escarpment, a landmark of significant cultural importance) is presenting its largest ever season in 2025.
“That may seem counterintuitive, but I think actually what we’ve found, coming out of COVID and with the cost of living crisis, is that we’ve discerned two things. One is that the big shiny blockbuster does well in this climate, still – and also the things that are really connected, and local and relevant to the community, those have continued to do well, right through actually,” Merrigong’s Artistic Director and CEO Simon Hinton tells ArtsHub.
“Our local artists’ program is the strongest it’s ever been and getting the best audiences it’s ever had. So I guess, in a way, in terms of scale, the big things and the smaller, connected community works are what we’re really focusing on in our programming. And that means, actually yes, 2025 is our biggest season.”
As well as programming touring works by mainstage companies in 2025, including Bangarra Dance Theatre’s The Light Inside (presented earlier this year as part of the double bill, Horizon), Bell Shakespeare’s Henry 5, Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Brisbane Festival’s Love Stories (based on Trent Dalton’s 2021 book of the same name) and State Theatre Company South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company’s The Dictionary of Lost Words, Merrigong is leaning into local works next year, thanks to the ongoing success of the Company’s MERRIGONGX program.
First presented in 2018, MERRIGONGX has a proven track record when it comes to the development and presentation of new Australian works, Hinton says.
“We actually had three shows in the MERRIGONGX season in 2024 and one of them, Birdsong of Tomorrow, has been programmed into the Griffin Theatre Company’s season next year. Then we’ve got Josh [Hinton]’s show, which is going up onto the mainstage next year, and another work that I can’t yet announce as touring, but it’s got some strong touring interest as yet unannounced, which is really exciting,” he explains.
“So we’re starting to really see pathways for the work of local artists made in MERRIGONGX, and I think that there’s a real robustness to that program now, in terms of the sort of creative support that we’re giving those artists.
“Those works, generally, are coming through the MERRIGONGX program for at least one, but often two creative development stages, funded creative development residencies. And then, if they are still heading in the right direction, getting that presentation opportunity in MERRIGONGX, which is really a kind of ‘proof of concept’ season, their first time in front of an audience. And we’re really encouraging artists to then be continuing to develop that work,” Hinton says.
For the Company’s 2025 season, Josh Hinton’s A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How To Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) transfers to the Merrigong mainstage, weaving together childhood memories and family folklore passed down through the generations, as Hinton Junior – Simon Hinton’s son – attempts to make his grandmother’s chicken curry, live on stage.
Read: ArtsHub’s 2025 season guide to the performing arts
Hinton is quick to acknowledge the family connection, while also denying any nepotism was involved with the decision to program A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How To Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) on the mainstage next year.
“He’s our eldest son, a third generation theatre-maker. My dad was an actor for 56 years of his life or something, with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, and in various places around the world. And yes, you know, we encouraged Josh to be an investment banker. But unfortunately, we failed. And all I can say [regarding suggestions of nepotism] is that Merrigong has robust procedures and I didn’t program the show. I had to step away from that process,” Hinton emphasises.
While the full suite of artists being supported with creative development residencies through MERRIGONGX in 2025 won’t be announced until February, four new works being presented to audiences for the first time have been revealed already.
The four selected works are Kirli Saunders’ Yhanda Djanbay (Go Slowly), a poetic journey through land, culture and identity which invites audiences to reflect and connect; Lucy Heffernan’s gig-theatre production Dog People, which explores the nature of love, death and dogs; Squatch Watch: LIVE by Vaguely Adjacent, taking audiences on an interactive adventure as they search for cryptozoological creatures; and Public Access, presented by The Corinthian Food Store, which examines community and urban life in a site-specific production performed live in a public library.
Hinton says Merrigong is investing significant financial resources into the MERRIGONGX program, with fully fledged works developed through the program touring to Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, among others, as a result.
“I don’t want to speak ill of other independent artist programs, but there are a lot of programs around the country that are really just giving space to independent artists, or saying, oh, you know, ‘You’re going to make a show for $2500, that’s the challenge,’ or whatever. That is not what we’re doing with MERRIGONGX,” Hinton says.
“They’re funded right through the process, and usually by the time those shows are having their first season at Merrigong, we’ve already invested $30,000 or $40,000 into the artist costs, and then we’re putting around it, obviously, marketing, technical, venue, you know, all of those things into it.
“So even though they’re just doing three nights in the MERRIGONGX program, there’s been a really robust and resourced process behind the making of those works. I think, as a result, they’re coming out the other end of it ready to tour and [are] really compelling works for audiences, and not just in Wollongong,” he says.
Additional works programmed for Merrigong’s 2025 season include Hayes Theatre Co’s The Pirates of Penzance, Sydney Theatre Company and Canberra Theatre Centre’s Julia, Circa’s Duck Pond and Mr Red Light, an absurdist, humorous work from Nightsong, an award-winning theatre company from Aotearoa New Zealand.
Learn more about Merrigong Theatre Company’s 2025 season, including simplified season packages offering between 20% and 30% discounts when booking a package of productions.
